"Skywriter" by Copeland ft. Young Summer, Monday, May 9, 2022

On Valentine's Day 2019 Copeland dropped their latest record, Blushing. Following up 2014's Ixora and 2015's Ixora Twin record the band built anticipation from their small but powerful fanbase over their 4+ year absence. Like Copeland's albums since You Are My Sunshine, Blushing was released on Tooth & Nail Records and received the promotions of a major Tooth & Nail release including podcast appearances by lead singer Aaron Marsh on the Tooth & Nail podcast Labeled:The Stories, Rumors, & Legends of Tooth & Nail Records and ads on the BadChristian Podcast, where the host said that Copeland's music was like "ear candy."

BRIGHT WHITE PUFFS ON THE BLUEST PAGES. But Blushing was an entirely different Copeland experience, at least for me. Today is probably the fourth or fifth attempt I've made to listen to and just enjoy this record. In the Labeled episode, Marsh talks about how he had a some mental health issues between Ixora and Blushing that he deals with in the lyrics of Blushing. The lead single, "Pope," is a love song from the perspective of a mentally ill man--Marsh clarifies that this man is not the lead singer of Copeland but a fictitious character--who falls in love with a girl and begs her to stay with him until he "can prove that the world is not real." Other songs are drenched in sadness and sorrow, painting a hopeless picture for love. Compared to the emotionally stable tracks on Ixora and You Are My Sunshine, Blushing was not what listeners were expecting, especially on a Valentine's Day. The morose tone of the album compete's with 2006's Eat, Sleep, Repeat but lacks the uplifting Burt Bacharach-styled middled tracks to lighten the mood. Besides "Pope," Blushing's singles offered a ray of hope of classic-Copeland love songs. "Lay Here" pleads for a lover to stay in bed, forgetting the world outside, and "Night Figures" without the context of the album sounds playful and imaginative, but songs like "Colorless," "On Your Worst Day," "Strange Flower," and today's song "Skywriter" give Blushing a weight heavier than any other Copeland record. And I must say, it's not an easy listen.

DO I COME OFF CRAZY? "Skywriter" is a rare Copeland song to feature a credited guest, in this case Young Summer. Like Fleurie, Young Summer is a Nashville-based Indie Pop Singer-Songwriter also featured singing a cover (Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out") on the Looking for Alaska soundtrack. Today's song talks about a man who flies an airplane to write in the sky how he feels about the girl he loves. If you ever saw an airplane writing a message in the sky, it looks effortless; however, the song talks about how difficult the task is. It may seem effortless to those on the ground, but the pilot is struggling to write his message. He's calculated the locations to release the exhaust. But the metaphor of the song is existential. The message disappears, fading into the sky. The artist's work is temporary, lasting only in videos, photographs, or the memories of those who experienced the wonder up above. Weather conditions must be perfect and the sky must be clear in order for him to spread his message. But to all of this, Marsh echoes the book of Ecclesiastes, asking "what's the point" if it all just fades away? "What's the point of searching if I just end up lost?" Blushing isn't a casual listen. You have to commit to it. I'm still waiting for it to strike me.

Live performances:



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